This invention relates to a method of smelting or producing aluminum from aluminum ore.
Methods are known for extracting aluminum from an aluminum bearing ore but there appears to be only one commercially used process, which process requires the use of large amounts of electricity. This method of production relies on the ore bauxite which contains about 50 to 65% alumina (aluminum oxide AL.sub.2 O.sub.3). This ore is generally found in tropical climates as it is formed by the weathering of aluminum-rich rocks under tropical conditions. The aluminum is produced by separating pure alumina from bauxite in a refinery and then treating the alumina by electrolysis. An electric current flowing through a molten electrolyte, in which alumina has been dissolved, divides the aluminum oxide into oxygen and aluminum metal, which collects on the bottom of the carbon-lined cell (cathode).
The present invention provides a process for smelting aluminum from an aluminum ore, which process does not require the use of bauxite as the source of the aluminum in the process. Moreover, the process described herein does not require the use of electricity for an electrolysis process.
The method of smelting aluminum described herein is capable of producing aluminum from commonly occurring minerals and, in particular, from nepheline. It can be used, for example, to produce aluminum from nepheline syenite.